It Came From the South

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Beyond Howard's performance is the film's beguiling fantasy of community. DJay connects with his old friend Key (Anthony Anderson), who sets up a home recording studio. One of DJay's whores sings the chorus on her boss's song; another turns tricks to raise money for sound equipment. The track is engineered by a geeky white guy (DJ Qualls). When he's dismissed as a doofus white, Key replies, "No, he's just light-skinned"--which must be how Brewer, who has black and white friends from all strata of Memphis society, sees himself.

The secret of Hustle & Flow's appeal is that it's a conventional dream movie with a realistic surface--a marshmallow dipped in grit. With its muddy color palette, the film looks as if it has been painted on velvet. But the plot is pure wish fulfillment. DJay gets transformed from no-gooder to go-getter by beautiful music (when he's moved to tears by a church choir). Then there's the Rocky factor. That movie, about a bum turned hero, was a happy pill after the traumas of Vietnam and Watergate. Brewer sees his film as a return to workaday humanity. "We're in a time of tremendous problems in the world, and we've needed to escape to fantasy," he says. "Maybe now we're coming to a time where we need more working-class heroes."

A Sundance sensation doesn't always go on to wow 'em at the plexes. For every Blair Witch Project (bought at Park City in 1999 for $1 million; earned $140.5 million) there are a dozen like Happy, Texas (bought the same year for $10 million; earned $1.9 million). In a film summer dominated by comic-book heroes and special effects, it's a long shot for an underdog to prove itself top dog.

Still, Hustle & Flow wins a critic's and an audience's rooting interest. It boasts a seductive lead performance and the best ensemble cast since Ray. It has a palpable sense of place; every frame reveals the heat and heart of Memphis. The film may be more like Rocky the club fighter than Rocky the box-office champ, but as people keep saying here, "Everybody gotta have a dream." One would be that the Hollywood factory starts financing movies like this--handmade and homegrown. --Reported by Desa Philadelphia/Los Angeles